Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed

Moses Maimonides was born into a distinguished family of Jews at Cordoba on March 30, 1135 and was well educated by his father Maimon. In 1148 the fanatical Berber Almohads led by the Mahdi ibn-Tumart conquered Cordoba and gave the Jews and Christians the choice between converting to Islam, exile, or death. The Maimon family continued to practice Judaism privately but hid by outwardly appearing as Muslims. About 1159 they went to Fez in Morocco. Moses studied rabbinical Judaism, philosophy, and medicine. After his teacher Rabbi Judah ibn Shoshan was arrested for his religion and was executed in 1165, the Maimon family moved to Palestine for a few months before settling in Egypt near Cairo. There Jews could practice their religion unless they had previously submitted to Islam, in which case they were put to death. After his father died, and his brother David, a jewelry merchant, lost his life and the family fortune in a shipwreck, Moses took up the profession of a physician. He became quite successful and even treated the famous Sultan Saladin and his son al-Afdal, to whom he dedicated a popular collection of health rules. Maimonides also taught and became the leader of the Cairo Jewish community in 1177. Ten years later he was accused of being a renegade but was acquitted because he had never really adopted Islam. Maimonides argued that the Torah revokes all obligations made under compulsion. When Saladin conquered Palestine, Maimonides persuaded him to let Jews settle there.

Maimonides was only 16 when he began writing on logic and the calendar. He spent ten years writing, also in Arabic, his commentary on the Mishnah that was completed when he was 33. Then he began hismagnum opus on the code of Jewish law called the Mishna Torah, which was written in Hebrew and took another ten years. He wrote in Arabic a shorter Book of Precepts for less sophisticated readers, and he wrote in Hebrew a digest of the Palestinian Talmud called the Laws of Jerusalem. In 1176 Maimonides began his Guide for the Perplexed, which took fifteen years and applied rational philosophy to Judaism. He wrote this in Arabic but with Hebrew letters so that it could only be read by Jews; he supervised a Hebrew translation. The Guide for the Perplexed was translated into Latin and many other languages, becoming his most influential work. Maimonides died at Cairo in 1204. His writing often caused controversy in the Jewish community, and in 1233 The Guide for the Perplexed was burned as heretical by Rabbi Solomon of Montpellier in France. In reaction others had Solomon arrested and put to death. Maimonides became recognized by many as the greatest Jewish philosopher, and his creed was used as a part of the orthodox liturgy.

In his introduction to The Guide for the Perplexed Moses Maimonides explained that he aimed to enlighten religious people who believe in the holy law and conscientiously fulfill its moral duties, but because of philosophical studies their reason finds it difficult to accept a literal interpretation of the scripture. He hoped that his work would alleviate that perplexity and anxiety by explaining the obscure metaphors that are found in the prophetic books. To teach in these disciplines without using parables and metaphors one would have to resort to expressions so profound and transcendental that they would be no more intelligible for understanding the divine will just as one must follow the laws of nature in regard to the body. Maimonides emphasized the general principle of abstaining from excessive indulgence in bodily pleasures which Solomon compared to a married woman who is a harlot.

In the first part of his Guide for the Perplexed Maimonides gave five reasons for not beginning with the study of metaphysics. First, it is too difficult, subtle, and profound; second, human intelligence is insufficient; third, long preparatory studies are required; fourth, moral conduct and the development of character are also indispensable for intellectual progress as the passions of youth must be moderated; and fifth, responsibilities for the material needs of the body, especially for a wife and children and even more if one desires superfluities, retard such study. Influenced by Avicenna, Maimonides declared that God exists as a necessity without a cause, is intelligent and therefore incorporeal. God is really beyond human knowledge. The divine attributes of intelligence, omnipotence, wisdom, mercy, love, unity, and will are absolute when applied to God and thus have a completely different meaning than their human qualities.

In the second part of the Guide Maimonides agreed with 25 philosophical propositions; but he challenged the Aristotelian idea that the universe is eternal because it contradicts the creation and miracles by God. He defined prophecy as an emanation sent by God through the active intellect, using both the rational and imaginative faculties, and he considered it the highest human attainment. Yet prophecy transcends the human development of the rational and imaginative faculties. In addition to perfecting the mental and imaginative faculties the wise must also achieve moral perfection by suppressing every thought of bodily pleasure and every foolish ambition. He noted that the imagination is affected by the body because prophecy can be blocked by mourning, anger, and other emotions. The divine influences the various degrees of intelligence and enables us to think. By means of the intuitive faculty the intellect can pass over all the causes and draw inferences instantaneously, enabling some to foretell coming events. Prophets must have highly developed intuition and courage. Prophets using intuition are able to conceive ideas that reason alone cannot comprehend nor ordinary imagination envision. Maimonides described humans as social beings who naturally seek to form communities. As nature's most complex species the human race has the greatest diversity of individuals.

Maimonides takes up ethical questions in the third part of his Guide. He warned against our desire for eating, drinking, and sensuality, writing,

Intelligent persons must, as much as possible, reduce these wants,
guard against them, and feel grieved when satisfying them,
abstaining from speaking of them, discussing them,
and attending to them in company with others.
Man must have control over all these desires,
reduce them as much as possible,
and retain of them as much as is indispensable.
His aim must be the aim of man as man,
viz., the formation of ideas, and nothing else.
The best and sublimest among them is
the idea which man forms of God, angels,
and the rest of the creation according to his capacity.
Such men are always with God.²

A good constitution helps the soul rule over the body; but a bad constitution may be conquered by training. Solomon and others advised reducing the desires of the body and all the vices originating from lust and the passions. Thoughts about sin are even more dangerous than the sin itself, for one sins only by the animal nature; but thinking is the formal faculty of the nobler self that should know better. It is therefore ignoble to use this faculty in service of the lower desires.

Maimonides argued that evil is only a relative condition that implies the non-existence of a good condition. Thus all evils are negations or privations. Death is lack of life, illness lack of health, poverty lack of wealth, and ignorance lack of knowledge. God cannot create evil because all God's works are perfectly good. God creates only the possibility of evil in the creation of the corporeal element that can be destroyed. Incorporeal beings are not subject to destruction or evil. Humans cause great evils because they lack wisdom as the blind man without a guide stumbles and does injury to himself and others. So humans in their ignorance may harm themselves and others; but knowledge of the truth removes hatred and quarrels, preventing mutual injuries. Ignorant people see much evil in the world because they mistakenly believe that everything exists for them; but if they considered the whole universe and their small portion of it, they would find the truth and see their error. Humans are exposed to various evils, but these can be exposed as defects in the persons themselves.

We complain and seek relief from our own faults;
we suffer from the evils which we, by our own free will,
inflict on ourselves and ascribe to God.³

The first kind of evils Maimonides described results from our having a body that is subject to a beginning and destruction. The second class of evils some humans cause to others by using their strength in violence or theft. Yet these are rare occurrences except in wars, which are also not usual. The third class of evils is what one causes to oneself by one's own actions. For Maimonides this is the largest class because they come from vices. The ignorant may constantly be in trouble and pain because they cannot get all the superfluous things they desire. Thus they may expose themselves to great dangers and suffer the consequences. Their error is in believing the universe should satisfy all their excessive desires; but the wise and virtuous understand the wisdom of God displayed in the universe.

Those who observe the commandments of the law and know their purpose see God's mercy and truth, and they seek what the Creator intends for them which is comprehension. They preserve the body but do not strive for what is superfluous, being contented with what is indispensable. When we seek what is unnecessary, we may have difficulty in finding what we need. The more we desire the more difficulties we encounter because our strength and resources are spent on what is unnecessary. Maimonides observed that the most necessary items to human existence are the easiest to acquire. Air is most necessary and most plentiful. Water is needed often but is easy to find, and the most basic foods are cheaper. The rarest luxuries are the most expensive to acquire. Maimonides divided human actions into those that are in vain, purposeless, unimportant, and good. An action is in vain if it's object cannot be attained because of obstacles. Sometimes people act without thinking of a purpose. He defined unimportant actions as those that seek something trivial. Useful actions are good because they serve a proper purpose.

In his commentaries on Jewish law Maimonides had carefully described 613 precepts, which in the Guide he summarized as having the following purposes:

Every one of the six hundred precepts serves
to inculcate some truth, to remove some erroneous opinion,
to establish proper relations in society, to diminish evil,
to train in good manners, or to warn against bad habits.
All this depends on three things;
opinions, morals, and social conduct.⁴

Another object of the law is to make humans reject, despise, and reduce desires, which may disturb the social order and the economy of the family. Lust diminishes intellectual energy, injures the body, shortens life, multiplies worries, and increases envy, hatred, and violence in taking what others possess. Maimonides believed the law also promotes politeness and sensitivity to one's neighbors. The law is intended to increase purity and holiness by reducing sensuality. Maimonides divided the 613 precepts into the following fourteen classes: fundamental principles (repentance and fasting), prohibition of idolatry, moral improvement, charity, preventing wrongs and violence, punishments and fines, business transactions, holidays, religious rites, the temple, sacrifices, ritual purity, forbidden foods, and sexual conduct.

The first class is most important because it involves learning, teaching, and prayer. Believing in the results of repentance enables us to improve. In the fifth class on damages readers are reminded that we are responsible for every damage caused by our actions or property. Maimonides condones killing a person who is about to commit either murder or rape. The rule for punishment is that it should be according to the crime except that injuries can be compensated by payment. Four conditions that affect punishment are the greatness of the crime, its frequency, the amount of temptation, and whether it was done secretly. Involuntary transgressions should not be punished. Sins committed in ignorance are blamable because one should be more careful and considerate. For crimes committed knowingly one must pay the penalty prescribed by law. Maimonides believed that one who sins insolently seeking publicity should be put to death. He also recommended capital punishment for crimes that destroyed religious faith as well as those prescribed for many crimes in the Torah.

Maimonides advised meditating by yourself in intellectual worship of God. He emphasized that loving kindness (hesed), judgment (mishpat), and justice (zedakah) are to be practiced on the earth. Justice means giving everyone their due and showing kindness as it is deserved. When we walk in the way of virtue, we act rightly toward our intellectual faculty. Judgment is the act of deciding what is right, whether merciful or punishment. Loving kindness is prompted by the moral conscience and is what enables us to attain perfection of the soul. Maimonides delineated four levels of perfection. The lowest is acquiring property. The second involves the health of the body. The third kind of perfection is the moral improvement of character. The fourth is perfecting the highest intellectual faculties and gaining the correct metaphysical beliefs about God. For Maimonides moral improvement prepares one for the highest human aim, which is knowledge of God. He concluded his treatise urging his readers to seek God, who is near to all who call in truth and turn to God. Those who go towards God without going astray will find God.

Moses Maimonides married late in life, and his son Abraham Maimonides (1186-1237) also became a religious leader of Jewish mysticism called hasidut that was strongly influenced by Sufism. Abraham'sCompendium for the Servants of God was a monumental treatise on law and ethics similar to his father's Code of Laws (Mishna Torah). Abraham Maimonides argued that much of Sufism was based on the ancient traditions of Israel's prophets that had been lost in the exile, including their simple dress, solitary meditation, and the guidance of a master. Abraham's son Obadyah Maimonides (1228-1265) also carried on the tradition and wrote a mystical manual on ethics for the spiritual traveler called The Treatise of the Pool, which used many Sufi terms.